She veered off the traditional path of an Azerbaijani woman, began crafting tricky quiz questions, and started guiding tours around Kaunas all while driving the SPEAK Lithuania initiative forward. Who is she, you ask? The correct answer: Narmin Aliyeva – a young woman who came to Lithuania a decade ago to study and quickly became a prominent face in Kaunas’ international community. Since 2017, her quiz nights, Quiz with Narmin, have rapidly gained popularity among international students (and beyond!). Additionally, her language learning initiative now helps hundreds of migrants and students integrate into life in Lithuania.
Before the interview, Narmin warns me, “I might speak like a wind-up toy,” and then she begins to tell her story. Growing up in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, Narmin started school at just five and a half years old, “Since I had already learned to read and write from my older sisters, kindergarten pushed me into school.”
In her teens, Narmin began to explore various intellectual games, participating in quizzes and TV game shows in Azerbaijan. “I really enjoyed competing. I participated in almost all the games for students, and I did quite well – I won various prizes like speakers, computers, and even toothpaste,” Narmin smiles.
In the last, 11th grade of high school, she was caught cheating while taking one of the exams. This significantly complicated Narmin’s chances of receiving a diploma, which was necessary for applying to university.
“At that time, not getting into university felt like a tragedy. My salvation came in the form of a TV game show for 11th graders. The main prize of the show was unique – three finalists out of 360 participants were eligible to receive high school diplomas with top marks and scholarships for studying abroad. Of course, I decided to participate,” Narmin says.
This adventure ended successfully – she received the diploma, and the scholarship became a strong argument that helped persuade her family to let her study abroad. “At that time, it was not common for young girls like me in Azerbaijan to go abroad for studies. I had to convince my parents, but the scholarship made this task easier. Eventually, I went to Cyprus to study Information Technology, as I had become interested in this field quite early,” the founder of SPEAK Lithuania says.
Cyprus was probably Narmin’s first trip abroad, but this experience did not pose major challenges. Although she lived in a rather strict girls’ dormitory, some of her roommates and classmates were Azerbaijanis, so integration was not difficult.
After her first year in Cyprus, Narmin began exploring opportunities to study in mainland Europe, “A friend of mine worked in the field of studying abroad and knew of potential universities where I could get a scholarship. Most opportunities were in Poland, so when we decided to try, I thought she only sent my documents there.”
That same summer, Narmin received an unexpected phone call: a female voice informed her about acceptance to a previously unheard-of university. “At first, I thought: could this be a scam? I pretended to understand everything, gave my address, and a few weeks later, I received an acceptance letter from KTU. It turns out, my friend had also sent my documents there,” Narmin smiles.
Yogurt, curd, or maybe cheese?
18-year-old Narmin arrived in Kaunas to study in October 2013. Her parents accompanied her to Lithuania to ensure that their daughter would settle in smoothly. However, challenges arose as soon as she landed in Vilnius.
“In Cyprus, there was a direct bus from the airport to the university, so I expected the same in Lithuania. Unfortunately, we didn’t find anything similar here. We missed the last bus to Kaunas and had to spend the night at the station. For a long time, we couldn’t even go to the restroom because there was no place to exchange euros for litas – we managed to do that only at dawn. At one point, a drunken man attached himself to us, and I thought that was it, my parents would make me go back home. Problems continued even after we finally reached Kaunas – at first, we ended up at the administrative building instead of the dormitory with all our luggage,” Narmin recalls.
The first year of studies was also challenging, “In Cyprus, I lived in the dorm with three roommates, but here – with just one. At first, I was thrilled: so much space just for me! However, I soon realized that it wasn’t an advantage but a disadvantage. After all, I didn’t know anyone in Lithuania, and since I arrived in October, I missed various university integration activities. I had to figure everything out on my own. For about six months, I didn’t know that students could travel by public transport with a discount or that it was possible to get an e-card.”
Narmin also faced obstacles in the city, as, according to her, Kaunas was just beginning to adapt to the growing number of foreigners. “I used to order food by pointing at pictures, and I clearly remember struggling to buy Greek yogurt, I kept getting either some kind of cheese or curd, but not yogurt. Although I like being alone, a broader social circle in a new country would have definitely been helpful,” Narmin recalls.
In her first year of studies, she was reserved and focused on her classes as she needed to maintain a perfect record to keep her scholarship. Everything – except being a good student – changed after she returned from her Erasmus exchange in Sweden.
“When I returned to Lithuania from Stockholm, I decided to immediately join the Erasmus student network where I met more people and made friends. I started organizing various events, and once every semester, trivia nights. I received a lot of positive feedback about my quizzes and requests to hold them more frequently,” Narmin remembers.
After her studies, Narmin not only received an offer from KTU to enroll in a tuition-free master’s program but also expanded her quiz nights beyond the university. “At that time, there were no English-language quiz events in Kaunas, so I took a risk without fully knowing if there would be enough interest. However, I tested the questions I had prepared with a few friends and… ended up filling the Džem’pub bar to its full capacity! I started organizing quizzes every week and gained sponsors who provided various prizes. Around 2017, Quiz with Narmin became the biggest event for the English-speaking community in Kaunas. It was essential to me to create a space where students and others could socialize,” Narmin shares.
Continuing to discuss the quiz, Narmin emphasizes the importance of community building and intercultural exchange. “Since I knew which countries the participants were from, I often tried to include questions about their cultures in the quiz, it’s one way to delight the participants. I also didn’t forget to include questions about Azerbaijan. I wanted to introduce people to my country. Additionally, many teams were formed by individuals, but I encouraged people to come even if they didn’t have a team. I know of one couple who met through Quiz with Narmin, and today they have a baby,” she smiles.
White envy
Narmin’s involvement in the international community of Kaunas continued to grow. Eager to learn more about the city, she began to explore it in-depth and eventually started working as a tour guide.
“People who say that Kaunas is boring and only has one street are very mistaken. As a guide, I always try to show the more interesting places and talk about unique sculptures. This includes the Yard Gallery, the Monument to Routine, or the Zen Rabbit on the underground passage of Vilnius Street, whose story always delights both me and the tourists,” Narmin notes.
The final and perhaps most essential of her activities is the SPEAK Lithuania initiative, which connects native language speakers with foreigners who have come to Lithuania.
“SPEAK was born in 2016 as a social startup with the mission to integrate refugees and migrants into society. I did my Erasmus internship at SPEAK in Portugal when the startup was just taking its first steps. I thought then: what a wonderful idea, how useful it would be in Lithuania. Four years later, I brought this idea to life. Overall, SPEAK is more than just language learning. It’s a way to democratize language education, build community, connect people from different cultural backgrounds, and break social bubbles,” Narmin explains.
In approximately four years, over 3,000 people from more than 70 different nationalities have learned languages with SPEAK Lithuania, improving their skills in Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Persian, Arabic, Japanese, and other languages. After initially establishing the SPEAK branch in Kaunas, Narmin expanded the activities to Vilnius in 2022. Last year, she received the Lietuvos galia Award from President Gitanas Nausėda.
According to Narmin, SPEAK Lithuania also brings the community together by organizing events, and their oldest friend, who led Lithuanian language courses, is around 90 years old.
“Many people, after completing a language course, return to teach their native language. When a new Lithuanian language group is announced, the spots fill up in less than half an hour, so the demand is still immense. We also go on picnics and hikes together, participate in Kaunas Courtyard Festival, celebrate Christmas, and even the spring equinox festival Nowruz, popular in Asian countries like Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran, and others,” Narmin says.
Today, Narmin already considers Lithuania and Kaunas her second home. She speaks Lithuanian quite well (having learned it by listening to Mamontovas and Kernagis) and is especially pleased with the progress she sees in the country.
“Although I travel a lot, I always return here. Today Lithuania is much friendlier to foreigners than it was in 2013. Museums have English descriptions, cafés have English menus, and universities have even more integration programs. I’m even a bit envious of those coming to Lithuania now. Finally, I’m very happy that through my heartfelt efforts, I’m contributing to easier integration in Lithuania. I wish the same for others, especially new students – after all, to receive, you must also give,” says Narmin.
